Painting a house black

[milovany]

So the question isn't about whether or not I should paint the house black (I'm pretty sold on doing so having seen some great examples of small houses painted black with a lot of white trim, and sunny, colorful flowers in front and real wood accents like front door and window shutters; you'll have to trust me that the house itself can carry this off) -- the question is, will it reaaallly make it a LOT hotter inside on a warm summer's day?  How much hotter?  Like 20 degrees hotter or like 3-5 degrees hotter?  It's a smallish one-story house with no air conditioning (well, there's a small window a/c that does help a bit) but a decent amount of shade trees.  It DOES get late afternoon/early evening sun through the windows on the west side.   

 

Who lives in a really dark house in a hot-summer climate?  What's your experience been?  Are you snarling and gnashing your teeth every summer wanting to repaint if you could?  Or is it kind of, yeah, whatever?  If it does make a noticeable difference in the summer, does it help with warmth though in the winter?  

 

Inquiring minds want to know.  

Edited July 7, 2017 by milovany

[Guest]

I have a black house and I hate it. It is getting repainted because the siuth side has already blistered. The rest will be painted because it feels like I'm in The Munsters.

 

And yes it is hotter.

[ksr5377]

We recently painted our front door black. It faces the east,and now you can hear it expanding every morning as it heats up in the sun. This did not happen when it was white.

[Scarlett]

So the question isn't about whether or not I should paint the house black (I'm pretty sold on doing so having seen some great examples of small houses painted black with a lot of white trim, and sunny, colorful flowers in front and real wood accents like front door and window shutters; you'll have to trust me that the house itself can carry this off) -- the question is, will it reaaallly make it a LOT hotter inside on a warm summer's day? How much hotter? Like 20 degrees hotter or like 3-5 degrees hotter? It's a smallish one-story house with no air conditioning (well, there's a small window a/c that does help a bit) but a decent amount of shade trees. It DOES get late afternoon/early evening sun through the windows on the west side.

 

Who lives in a really dark house in a hot-summer climate? What's your experience been? Are you snarling and gnashing your teeth every summer wanting to repaint if you could? Or is it kind of, yeah, whatever? If it does make a noticeable difference in the summer, does it help with warmth though in the winter?

 

Inquiring minds want to know.

I saw a house painted black on an episode of Hgtv Lakehouses and it was gorgeous. They did a metal colored metal roof. But I live in OK and I fear it would not do well here.

[FriedClams]

I think it would be really hard to keep it looking fresh. I think the paint would fade faster than other lighter colors, and I would guess that different sides of the house would fade at very different rates. If you paint yourself, then I would guess it's less of an issue, but I'd want the least work for the best look. 

[Lanny]

I don't know how this works with temperatures inside a house, but I remember years ago, they tested White cars and Black cars parked in the hot Texas sun.  When they opened them up, the inside temperature was 20 or 30 degrees F. hotter inside the Black cars as I recall. The temperature difference was substantial...

 

I didn't have a White car, but I never had a Black one.

 

How much hotter the inside of your house would be during the Summer, I don't know, but I am assuming you do not live in the SW or SE of the USA where you would be running AC for months.  

 

I would NOT consider having a Black roof on a house.

 

Good luck with your decision!

[Miss Tick]

See, I remember the kind of test Lanny is talking about but done in Phoenix and the difference was only 2 degrees or so. It was offset by putting one of those super shiny reflectors in the windshield. Maybe if you don't have living room curtains yet...

[kroe1]

I live in Florida and just bought my first black car with black interior. Let's just say I will not be doing that again.

[Katy]

When I was in kid our school district in Florida did a study and the interior temperature of the school busses with white roofs was almost 30 degrees cooler on hot sunny days than those with yellow roofs. Hence the white roof bus phase.  I cannot imagine a house would be much different, even if wood siding is less conductive than metal.

[Catwoman]

I think it would be really hard to keep it looking fresh. I think the paint would fade faster than other lighter colors, and I would guess that different sides of the house would fade at very different rates. If you paint yourself, then I would guess it's less of an issue, but I'd want the least work for the best look.

:iagree:

 

This would be my concern, as well. It might look beautiful at first, but if it's a matte black, I would worry that it would look very dull within a very short period of time. Also, it might be more difficult to keep it looking clean -- black cars show every speck of dirt, so I would be worried that the same thing would happen with a black house.

[Lanny]

See, I remember the kind of test Lanny is talking about but done in Phoenix and the difference was only 2 degrees or so. It was offset by putting one of those super shiny reflectors in the windshield. Maybe if you don't have living room curtains yet...

 

Hmmm.     My guess is that it would be a lot more than 2 degrees F. difference.    I remember that when I would go to my car after getting off work in the late afternoon, I would open the Driver's door and stand there for a minute or 2, before I got into the car, to let some of the hot air out.  

 

I did try to leave 1 or 2 windows down about 1" if I thought th possibility of rain was slight.  If all the windows in a car are up 100%, on a hot day there's a lot of hot air trapped inside a parked car.

 

I didn't have one of those things people stick inside their windshield that you mention.

[prairiewindmomma]

I had a glossy black door at our previous house. It showed all of the pollen in spring, all blowing dirt in summer, and water stains after the fall rains. I am not ever having another black door. I can't imagine that house-wide.

[Word Nerd]

This post discusses some other potential issues to consider, namely voiding warranties on garage doors and windows if painted a dark color.

Edited July 7, 2017 by Word Nerd

[Catwoman]

I had a glossy black door at our previous house. It showed all of the pollen in spring, all blowing dirt in summer, and water stains after the fall rains. I am not ever having another black door. I can't imagine that house-wide.

That's what I was thinking, too -- and it would be even worse with a matte black because I think the dirt would adhere to that texture even more than it would to a glossy surface.

 

Personally, I think a black house could look very stylish in a magazine photo, but would be far less attractive in real life after a very short time due to the effects of the weather.

[Lori D.]

Thermally speaking, a black house would be the death of us here in the blisteringly hot SW of the USA, whether you had AC or not. Nothing is black here, if you want to use it in the summer. ;) I assume that is not the case where you live, and that increased heat absorption in the summer would not be a problem.

 

I would think you'd need to plant a ring of tall deciduous tree all around the house to shade it from absorbing sun in summer, and then have leaf-drop for winter to let the sun in for increased absorption.

 

Our (light-colored) house has a black security screen door. The black looks more like a dusty dull charcoal color all the time because I got very tired of going out once a week to clean off all the dust, pollen and dirt that blows onto the house. I can't imagine having to clean the *exterior* of an entire house on a weekly or even monthly basis.

 

 

ETA -- PS

Okay, I just googled images of black houses with white trim.  :scared:  :zombiechase:  Scary looking! Munsters or Adams family is right!

 

Especially in the winter with a yard full of snow or bare ground, without any sunny colorful flowers to relieve the starkness. Would you be able to install colorful plastic/silk flowers to help maintain the designer look year round? Just trying to brainstorm...

 

Or better yet -- people rarely look at the exterior of their own homes -- the vast majority of time is spent inside, so people see the interior all the time. What about doing a designer black and white bathroom, or kitchen, or family room, that you could enjoy for hours a day that wouldn't interfere with warranties, or fade, or need regular repainting or cleaning?

Edited July 7, 2017 by Lori D.

[Guest]

I think it would be really hard to keep it looking fresh. I think the paint would fade faster than other lighter colors, and I would guess that different sides of the house would fade at very different rates. If you paint yourself, then I would guess it's less of an issue, but I'd want the least work for the best look. 

 

Yes, the south side of our house gets full sun, no shade protection, and it is dark gray and tired looking now.  The front is still black.  The former owners left paint cans behind and I know the paint was a good brand and of their higher quality line.  

[KungFuPanda]

Wouldn't it be like driving a black car? I'm not sure siding color makes a bigger difference than the quality of your windows or how much light is getting in. I'm guessing a white house with open curtains gets warmer than a black one with drawn curtains.

[fairfarmhand]

Wouldn't it be like driving a black car? I'm not sure siding color makes a bigger difference than the quality of your windows or how much light is getting in. I'm guessing a white house with open curtains gets warmer than a black one with drawn curtains.

 

For me it wouldn't be the heat to the inside of hte house. But I would think that it would need repainting more quickly because it was hotter outside.

 

Lots of my decision would depend on your climate.

[KungFuPanda]

For me it wouldn't be the heat to the inside of hte house. But I would think that it would need repainting more quickly because it was hotter outside.

 

Lots of my decision would depend on your climate.

Yes, but this would be true for dark gray and red houses too, so people are signing up for it. There are a lot of dark roofs out there too.

[lea1]

I recently saw an episode of Fixer Upper on HGTV where Chip was putting a black metal roof on a house in the Waco Texas area.  He said that it would reflect the sunlight and actually keep the attic area at somewhere in the 80's during the Texas summer heat. I found that interesting.  Also, those metal roofs are suppose to last a really long time.  Maybe you should consider black metal siding if you are really determined to have a black house.  Otherwise, I think it would likely be way too hot.

 

ETA: The black metal roof actually looked really nice.  It was a more modern house though.

Edited July 7, 2017 by Lea in OK

[Pen]

Well, I know people who have used black on purpose to achieve passive solar gain.  And black housing to heat passive solar water system (which got the water hot enough that cold had to be added or it was too hot in mid summer!) They had deciduous trees and other means to lessen the passive solar heating effect in summer, and this is in maritime Pac NW where it tends to be relatively cool even in summer.  The material does make a difference of course too.  

[fairfarmhand]

Yes, but this would be true for dark gray and red houses too, so people are signing up for it. There are a lot of dark roofs out there too.

 

Yep.

 

We actually researched this when we chose the color of metal for our barn. They even study the effects of the color of the metal vs. the temperature variation.

 

http://www.norbord.com/na/blog/effects-of-roofing-shingle-color-on-energy-efficiency

 

I see the pictures and they are super cute, but I am in the midst of JULY in Middle Tennessee and I'm just HOT! right now. Painting my house to make it hotter just sound so unappealing.

Edited July 7, 2017 by fairfarmhand